Four Brothers War
The Four Brothers War was a war that took place between the factions of the Rhennish empire from 93 to 102 DR. The two fronts of the war were ended by two separate treaties: in 101, the Treaty of Dirgot granted West Yorna its independence, while the Treaty of Pretz reaffrirmed Rhennish sovereignty over Castilene and Batr Elois. Breakout of war Tension among the four sons of Rhennish king Henry III was well-established by the time of Henry III's death in 93; when King Henry IV was crowned, the feuds boiled over, and so his brother Wilhelm staged an invasion of Collinschwef that autumn. The initial invasion was abortive, and so Henry was able to rouse the Collinish people and drive Wilhelm out without much hardship. For support, Wilhelm turned to the youngest Zigmar brother, Ingo; Ingo responded by calling for an independent Castilene, creating a Wilhelmite "buffer zone" that allowed Wilhelm to move his Eloic armies onto the Rhennish mainland. The two launched a second invasion of Collinschwef in Frosethai 93, which owing to their increased manpower was able to drive Henry entirely from the city at the beginning of 94. Multi-front war In the spring of 94, the remaining brother— Charles— declared the independence of West Yorna, creating another zone of turmoil in the already divided nation. Henry was unable to respond initially to this, as for the first months of 94, he was forced to travel the deserts and canvass for support. By Parcother of that same year, Henry had amassed a large enough army to outnumber Wilhelm's, and so he staged a counteroffensive and managed to reclaim Collinschwef after a brief siege. The Wilhelmites, although they had abandoned Collinschwef by this point, regrouped and attempted to capture several other Rhennish cities. Henry mostly disregarded them, by this point attempting to quash Charles' Yornal insurrection. He had no success penetrating any of the Castilinar ports, so instead Henry negotiated with Hecrivastin king Ingo IX for passage through the ports of Hecrivast. While Henry fought in West Yorna, he kept a small force led by Georg Dessiria in Collinschwef. The early stages of the Yornal campaign were successful, and Henry reached the gates of Dirgot itself— however, at this time the Wilhelmites were able to recapture Collinschwef. In 95, Henry was forced to table his Yornal campaign and return to Rhen proper. Rhennish reconquest On 23 Rasnosia 95, Henry used unmarked sails to disguise his ships and landed in the Castilinar harbor of Aglarre. The bloody capture of Aglarre by Henry's loyalists marked the beginning of a resurgence for the Henrist armies: this move forced the Wilhemites onto the defensive, and as they moved to defend Castilene, several Rhennish cities defected to Henry's side. While Henry was occupied on the Castilinar front, Georg Dessiria capitalized on the turning tide of war to start liberating Wilhelmite cities throughout the Saltsmoke. He was not, however, able to capture Collinschwef itself at this point. This period of the war lasted for about two and a half years, until at the Second Battle of Aglarre in Metigrans 97, Wilhelm and Ingo were forced to retreat to Batr Elois. Henry again appointed Dessiria to handle his duties in Rhen, and took the opportunity to launch another attack on West Yorna. Second Yornal campaign Henry's next landing in West Yorna was in the early winter of 97, but this campaign was doomed to failure almost from the start— West Yorna had, by this point, had almost three years of uninterrupted autonomy. Thus, Henry suffered a series of defeats against the enthusiastic Yornal populace, and so by the summer of 98 he again gave up on making headway. Although he publicized his return to Rhen, Henry instead sailed southward at this point and moved to attack Batr Elois itself. Conquest of Batr Elois Henry landed in Batr Elois on 5 Rasaleth 98; however, he was met with immediate difficulties, as Wilhelm and Ingo had securely fortified the island. Henry was not able to establish a significant and defensible beachhead until the spring of 99, and by this point, both sides had seen their numbers substantially depleted. This period of the war was a difficult one for both sides: attrition burdened Henry's campaign, while Wilhelm and Ingo were forced to try hiding on an island of fairly limited area. Ultimately, though, Henry proved dominant: Wilhelm and Ingo fled again, returning to the Rhennish mainland, although they were forced to leave most of their army behind. Conclusion of war In 101, Henry launched a third assault on West Yorna: this was his least successful yet, and so in Rastheros 101 he surrendered entirely and granted the state its independence. In gratitude, Charles gave Henry a regiment with which to finally crush the Wilhelmites. The Wilhelmites' last stand was in the town of Sandgrass, a small city that was more of a desert outpost than anything. After being pursued through the desert, the Wilhelmite army finally refused to continue marching, and so the two armies met in the spring of 102. The battle went poorly for Wilhelm and Ingo— Wilhelm was captured, and seeing his own imminent defeat, Ingo promptly defected to the Henrist side. Now virtually without allies, Wilhelm was executed, and so it was Ingo who worked out the Treaty of Pretz with his victorious brother. Category:Wars